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Action needed for Kenai kings

I have been fishing in Alaska now for over 18 years. My first trip was on the Kenai River. During this time I have seen the number of river “guides” increase exponentially year-over-year, to the point where you can now walk across the river on these boats. My last trip on the Kenai was 6 years ago ... it was a mess.

From glutton “dip-netters” to “no-limits-for-our-local-economy” to “commercial-terrorism” you are now being asked to do your job for the sake of a natural wonder! If I was the “Kenai King” it would be simple. Just shut down all fishing in and around the Kenai for 5 years. Nature will take care of the rest. I am not surprised to see these “locals” all upset ... what I hear in all this, is they’re upset because the tourist dollars are declining.

Time to act was yesterday. In any case, my bet is that you will continue to do nothing.

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It's not the dollars Doug, it is getting people like yourself to do some actual homework so you will understand what you are talking about. Shutting down local fishing around the Kenai River would be like a parent tells a kid that they have cancer and the kid suggests putting a Band-Aid on it to make it better. Your Kenai River Band-Aid is not going to cut it. The forces causing our king salmon losses are huge, statewide and focus mainly on the Gulf of Alaska, not around the Kenai River like you suggest. Call you local ADF&G office and try asking where the king problem is. The problem is statewide.

Our ocean plankton, zooplankton, herring, crab and king salmon are all about wiped out as our ocean now has a 50 year nitrogen low which is preventing our natural marine food chain cycles from functioning properly. We need to rot more salmon in our rivers and streams, to increase nitrogen levels and then ban commercial herring and crab harvests for about ten years. That will at least give our kings something to eat as our herring return.

Regarding guide levels, you need to keep up. Kenai guide levels have reduced 100 guides just in the last couple years.